Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid

Pia 

Sadie nodded. "No Amos. No responsible adult. I don't think Khufu counts." And that's when the gods completed their gift. A voice from the doorway said, "Sounds like you have a job opening"

"Oh, dear" Set laughed. "I suppose Zia gets to say 'I told you so,'"

"Cool" I said. "Are you sure I can get it back?" No" Bast said. "Now, come on!"

 She'd pointed out the stars .to me: Polaris, Orion's Belt, Sirius.

A family arguing in German rushed by and almost ran over me with their suitcases.

Bast raised an eyebrow. "Why, well summon more gods, of course."

Amos's brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate."

They always say "tell the truth," and when you do, they don't believe you. Whať's the point?

eden !

kelsey

5✰

it takes strength and courage to admit the truth.

Monicap

I have only one thing to say about this book.

I will preface it, however, with a plea: O, people of the internet, do not turn into lions and attack me in my sleep.

THIS IS SO MUCH FUNNIER THAN PERCY JACKSON.

kait

i wanted to love this. i really did. it just felt so slow to me! maybe that's because i don't love egyptian mythology and wasn't really interested going in but i had higher hopes for a rick riordan book. i liked some parts and started to like some of the characters towards the end but it just felt like it all fell kind of flat. i am going to read the other ones so that i can say i have read all of riordan's books one day but this wasn't anything special in my opinion.

Sarah Sammis

My husband, son and (to a lesser extent, daughter) and I all enjoyed the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. When the Kane Chronicles were announced I was doubly thrilled: first for having a new tween series by Riordan and second because I have loved reading Egyptian themed books since I was in high school.

The Kane Chronicles begin with The Red Pyramid. In the fashion of the most recent Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters and The Egyptologist by Arthur Philips, the book is presented as the transcripts from Carter and Sadie Kane, siblings who have been separated since the death of their mother.

Carter has been living with their father, living out of his suitcase, going from dig to dig and museum to museum as his father's research leads. Sadie, meanwhile, has been living in England with her maternal grandparents who want nothing to do with Dr. Julius Kane.

As with the Percy Jackson series, Riordan takes the old Gods, the Egyptian ones, this time and supposes that they are real and still among us. The magic that was described on the temple walls and in the old papyrus scrolls works for those who know how to wield it. And like Percy and his friends, the Kane siblings have ties to the Gods.

Riordan has his own take on how Egyptian theology works, some of which he uses to play up the humor in scenes and other times to make things more dramatic. Still, though, like the Percy Jackson series, there's enough there to point interested kids in the right direction if they want to learn more.

Christine

river

Athiril Ard

Dari buku-buku Uncle Rick lain yang sudah kubaca, rasa-rasanya buku inilah yang paling berkesan di hatiku. Setelah sekian lama, aku mulai melupakan apa yang telah terjadi pada Percy Jackson ataupun Magnus Chase.

Mungkin karena tokoh utama di buku ini, Carter Kane, memiliki kondisi keluarga yang mirip denganku. Aku dan Carter sama-sama memiliki seorang adik perempuan, serta sama-sama kehilangan sosok ibu dan hanya memiliki sosok ayah. Bisa dibilang, aku sedikit banyak dapat mengerti apa yang dirasakan Carter. Dan, adik si Carter, Sadie Kane, mungkin saja bisa membantuku untuk memahami keadaan adikku sendiri yang merupakan satu-satunya perempuan di keluarga kita. Pasti sulit menjadinya. Pasti sakit menjaga emosinya. Pasti perih memikirkan takdir-takdir yang menimpa.

Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane accidentally unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes the doctor to oblivion and forces his two children to embark on a dangerous journey to save him.

The Kane Chronicles, The, Book One: Red Pyramid

--◈ 3.75 STARS 

Though it took me a while to get used to reading his work that is anything other than Greek or Roman mythology, I am still enjoying every second of it. I honestly missed reading Uncle Rick's writings.

julia

i appreciated seeing point of view of both siblings and i enjoyed noticing the difference in their personalities in their storytelling but i didn't like the narration in the form of a transcript of a digital recording. this method made sense at the end of the book but during the actual reading it caused me to be a little confused over the timeline. besides that it was a great read, their adventures all over the world and slow discovery of secrets was awesome. reading about the siblings growing closer and maturing as they make some very hard decisions was also amazing. i can't wait to grab the next book in line from this series!

Geoffrey Froggatt

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a “research experiment” at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them–Set–has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe–a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. Not knowing much Egyptian mythology, it was a bit hard to understand the beginning of this book, but it was easier to understand all the history of as the story progressed which I really liked. The characters were fun and witty and sarcastic and everything you could hope for in a middle grade book series. This book does a good job at exploring Egyptian mythology while telling its own story full of colorful character much like how Percy Jackson explored Greek mythology while doing the same. It was very cool finding out that this takes place in the same world as Percy Jackson, and the small references were very cool. I highly recommend this book for fans of Percy Jackson and Egyptian mythology.

Hannah Yang

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the rare people who enjoyed the Kane Chronicles more than the Percy Jackson series, and it all starts with the fantastic The Red Pyramid. Rick Riordan's familiar, witty writing style and action-packed scenes return in the Kane Chronicles, except instead of Greek mythology, it's Egyptian.

Carter Kane has followed his archaeologist father around the world for most of his life, and is used to always being on the move. Semi-resentful that he can't have the normal life Sadie has, he's even more overwhelmed to find out that he's a magician (and not just any average, plain old magician!) Carter felt a lot like Percy to me because his narration was funny but didn't strike me as completely stereotypically heroic (he was afraid of a looot of the things he encountered). 

Sadie Kane was raised as a British schoolgirl, but with her combat boots and dyed hair, she knows she's different. All she wanted was to get to know her mother better, or at least spend time with her father, which is difficult when she's only allowed to see her father (and Carter) two days a year. Honestly, throughout the novel I felt like Sadie did most of the work: she was able to read hieroglyphics, she got the feather of truth and Set's secret name, etc. (I don't think that's spoiling much, since they obviously do triumph over chaos in the end) and I felt like Carter's role as an "older brother" didn't account for much.

When Carter and Sadie's father makes a decision that goes terribly wrong, their uncle Amos takes them away and tells them the truth: they come from a family of magicians. Powerful ones. And now it's up to them to prevent the end of the world.

  "Lovely," Sadie grumbled.

I've always enjoyed Rick Riordan's writing style, which always keeps me giggling. I think what set The Red Pyramid apart from the Percy Jackson series was that it was more unique. Greek mythology has been done before, but Egyptian mythology + magic? Now that's original. 

The characters are just as engaging (if not more) and the switching of Sadie and Carter's perspectives gives room for character development. 

Overall, The Red Pyramid is well written, the characters are well developed, and it was just a really smooth and entertaining read. I would highly recommend it, as well as the other books in the series, to middle schoolers and even beyond that.

Callie Stull

This book was very captivating and it held my attention throughout the story. I started reading on the Amazon Kindle app, I was bored and it was a free book. I ended up reading over 100 pages just the first time I read it, so of course, I HAD to buy the entire series. I haven't had a chance to start the 2nd or 3rd books yet but they are on my tbr list.

Nessa Luna

Original Review: I bought this box-set of the Kane Chronicles when it was on sale online somewhere, and I thought 'well I've read most of Rick Riordan's other books, this series would probably be just as cool'. I didn't really know much about Egyptian mythology, at least not as much as I did about Greek/Roman or Norse. So I kind of went into this story 'blind', only knowing that it all happens in the same universe (Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Gods of Asgard, and now the Kane Chronicles too).

The Red Pyramid tells the story of fourteen-year-old Carter and his twelve-year-old sister Sadie Kane. Sadie has been living with their grandparents in London for years, while Carter has been travelling the world with their father. One night, the two meet again, but that is also the night everything goes wrong. Carter and Sadie find out that the ancient Egyptian Gods have escaped, and one of them in particular is trying to make their lives even more difficult than they are.

This book is a little bit different than Riordan's usual recipe, but I liked it very much. There was still enough adventure and enough trouble for the Kane's along the way (though it also made me a bit frustrated that so much went wrong). (view spoiler)[One big difference between this series and Riordan's other books is that the Kane's aren't demigods. They are magicians, who are also godlings (I believe that was the word that was used) who can host a god inside their bodies for a long time. I liked this difference, though I thought it was also a bit of a shame that they weren't demigods. (hide spoiler)]. I still learned a couple of things about the Egyptian Mythology in a fun way, and that is what makes these books so amazing.

The main characters are Carter and Sadie, who are fourteen and twelve, but to be honest they felt so much older to me. They could have easily been made eighteen and sixteen, and I don't think I would have noticed any difference. In fact, it may have made the characters even better in my opinion - because I did feel like they were too mature for their age. (view spoiler)[Maybe they acted like this because they were hosting Horus and Isis, but still I think that even if that hadn't happened they would have felt much older. (hide spoiler)] I also liked how Carter and Sadie were mixed race, though Carter looked more like their (black) father, and Sadie like their (white) mother, which got them a lot of weird looks every time they said they were siblings.

On their journey to stop Set, they meet a lot of characters, including a cat goddess named Bast, a baboon named Khufu and - wait for it - a crocodile named Philip of Macedonia. Just the (subtle) humour that Riordan puts in his books is amazing. But honestly, the book could have been shorter. It was a bit over 500 pages, and I think that some of the fights could have been deleted in order for them to get to Set sooner. Of course, being what Carter and Sadie are means they will be hunted forever, but still why so much trouble? I just feel so bad for these characters sometimes, they think 'oh well that was the worst of it', and then SOMETHING EVEN WORSE HAPPENS NEXT. *sighs*

The writing was amazing as usual, and there was one particular thing I liked more about these books than I did with all the others: it was first person narrative. The story was written as if Carter and Sadie were telling it to you (via recording, I believe) and so they had to tell the story from their point of view, and honestly that made it a lot better. I really wish Riordan had done this for all of his books, because I am just not a fan of third person narrative, especially not if there's multiple POV's.

Anyway, I really enjoyed The Red Pyramid and I will obviously pick up the next book, The Throne of Fire. If you loved Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus, and you want to learn more about Egyptian mythology, you should pick up these books!

My opinion on this book in one gif:

Maite Alarcon Leon

I have to admit I was a bit slow with it at the beginning. Mainly because I was very mind-blown after the Percy Jackson & the Olympians and the The Heroes of Olympus series. But I finally caught onto the story and it was just— amazing. It is a bit difficult, though, to remember Sadie is just twelve and Carter just fourteen. They just go through so much. And they tend to sound so grown up, sometimes. But the story is fresh and nice and the characters are pretty much alive and they're easy to relate to. Rick Riordan clearly works some magic while writing and I got to see it perfectly in this new saga.

Ariel

Reread: I liked it overall and would give it 3.5, it was good but doesn't compare to Percy jk. I liked it just not enough for it the get a 4 stars rating from me. Rick is still one of my favorite authors

I really enjoyed this book. I wanted to get more into the Percy Jackson universe and even thought none of the Percy characters are in it, I enjoyed the storyline a lot. I have never read Egyptian mythology before so this was pretty new to me but the book does a good job explaining about the different gods. I love the sibling duo dynamic and Sadie is def an interesting character. I almost gave this book 4.5 but the ending sold me, the reason for the recordings and getting the listener/ reader involved really did it for me. I read it as an audiobook so it was so perfect. 

Leah Diaz 

menna

reading about ancient egypt in history class <<<< reading about it in a rick riordan book

brianna

it was more of a 3.5 stars but im feeling generous. i still really enjoyed it though :-)

The wordbuilding was pretty complex, but it made sense and the plot was thrilling. The characters were pretty good and I liked their sibling relationship.

My only problem was the romance subplot. Between a 5000 year old literal GOD and a freaking TWELWE year old. Even if he was as mature as a teen boy it would still be him being like 16-17 and her being 12. She acts like a child and she is a child. As someone close to the guy's age, I could never date a person this young. Gross.

Eszter Baranyi

I enjoyed this one

The wordbuilding was pretty complex, but it made sense and the plot was thrilling. The characters were pretty good and I liked their sibling relationship.

My only problem was the romance subplot. Between a 5000 year old literal GOD and a freaking TWELWE year old. Even if he was as mature as a teen boy it would still be him being like 16-17 and her being 12. She acts like a child and she is a child. As someone close to the guy's age, I could never date a person this young. Gross.

Carter and Sadie have nothing in common but their parents: their father Dr. Julius Kane, a brilliant Egyptologist, and their mother, a famed archaeologist who died under mysterious circumstances when they were young. The siblings barely know each other, but one night, their father brings them together at the British Museum, promising a 'research experiment' that will set things right for their family. His plans go horribly wrong. An explosion unleashes an ancient evil - the Egyptian god Set - who banishes Dr. Kane to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Now orphaned, Carter and Sadie must embark on a dangerous quest - from Cairo to Paris to the American Southwest, to save their father and stop Set from destroying everything they care about . . . Follow the author on his blog Visit kanechronicles.co.uk for more

Rachel Evans

(4/5) 4 hours 30 minutes - This is another great start to a mythological series by Rick Riordan. Not quite as good as the Percy Jackson books, but still has the same charm and adventure.

Yvette Espinoza 

I really enjoyed it and have already pre-ordered the next one.

Chloe Verhoeve

Courtney Gendreau

Original Review Posted at www.literarychaos.com 

I went into this book already being a big Rick Riordan fan. I had previously read the Percy Jackson series, and I was very impressed with his the way he integrated mythology into the story. Because of this, and my love for Ancient Egyptian mythology, I had very high expectations for this book. I can definitely say that he met and even surpassed my expectations. 

I was amazed at how accurately and effortlessly he was able to integrate the Egyptian mythology into the story. It never felt forced nor did he make up any false mythology to create this story. Instead, he used different pieces of existing Egyptian mythology to create his story. He even found a way to work around some of the more inappropriate and weird parts of Egyptian mythology. For example, he explains away the incestuous nature of the gods by stating that the gods refer to each other by their relationships whatever bodies they inhabit, Ie. if the bodies they inhabit are siblings they will refer to each other as such. 

One of the things that I was not expecting was for the book tackle the injustices that are faced by people of color. The book states that the two main characters, the Kane siblings, are biracial with Carter being much darker than his sister who could pass for white. Throughout the book, Carter talks about him having to deal with peoples negative perceptions, having to look and act a certain way, and being mistreated due to his skin color. The book also touches on some of the issues Sadie faces being a biracial individual who passes for white, this includes often being seen as different and separate from her family. While I was definitely surprised that this was included in a Middle-Grade novel, I was definitely pleased to see a book not only showcasing these tough subjects but doing so in a way that younger readers can understand and possibly learn from. 


While I loved almost everything about the story, I was not the biggest fan of narration style of the book. Riordan has it written as if the reader is listening to a recording of the two main characters. I don't think I would have minded this style if it had been consistent but the tape portions seemed to pop up sporadically and during other parts, it seemed like normal narration, because of this the book sometimes felt a little choppy. However, the other aspects of the book were so interesting I was able to overlook the narration. 

This book is a very funny and easy read despite being over 500 pages. The characters are funny and interesting, the plot is well paced and overall enjoyable. I am very interested in seeing what happens next for the Kane siblings.

The Red Pyramid

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